Another Skip Less Than a Month Later??

Wang Zhen's lips trembled.

Only after a long while did his voice ring out in the silent Martial Dao Training Hall.

"Keep training!"

He spun around, his voice hoarse.

"Don't stop practicing your stances. Anyone who dares slack off will run fifty laps around the field!"

With that, he strode out of the testing room without so much as a glance at the baffled students.

His retreat was hurried, urgent, even tinged with a hint of... madness?

The testing room door slammed shut.

After a brief silence, the classroom erupted.

"10.3 calories... My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they?"

"He was only at 3.6 half a month ago, and now it's tripled? Is he even human?"

"I knew there was something off about that punch of Boss's. That sound—that was the force of a minor mastery punch!"

Zhao Jie was the first to react. He practically sprang into motion, rushing to Chen Fan's side, his usually proud face now filled with fervor.

He didn't even dare make too much noise. He lowered his voice, though it still trembled. "Boss! 10.3 calories! You're my god! Who else in this school could take one of your punches?"

Chen Fan opened his eyes, his gaze calm.

He paid no attention to Zhao Jie's flattery or the way the other students looked at him as though he were a monster.

"Move."

Chen Fan got up, pushed Zhao Jie out of his way, and headed straight for his seat.

Far from feeling offended, Zhao Jie thought this was exactly how an expert should carry himself.

He straightened his back like a loyal guard and glared fiercely at the students still whispering around them. "What are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen my boss train? Get back to your stances!"

"Nobody's allowed to bother my boss!"

The principal's office.

Li Guangming was pinching the bridge of his nose, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water.

A document titled "Notice Regarding the Donghai City Martial Arts Primary School Exchange Tournament" lay mostly open on his desk.

"The gap is too big..."

Li Guangming let out a long sigh.

"Our school doesn't have many promising talents this year!"

As the principal of East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School, Li Guangming knew the caliber of this year's sixth graders all too well.

"The most talented kid in sixth grade has only just managed to reach 15 calories of qi and blood, while at the other elementary schools..."

"I hear they all have students with over 20 calories of qi and blood!"

The thought gave Li Guangming a headache. A gap of a full 5 calories wasn't so easy to bridge.

For some reason, the troubled Li Guangming suddenly thought of Chen Fan.

"If that kid were just two years older, our East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School wouldn't be in such a frustrating position!"

Li Guangming couldn't help sighing. He had high hopes for Chen Fan; otherwise, he wouldn't have let him skip a grade and even enter the best class, Class One.

But even the most monstrous genius needed time to grow, and Chen Fan was only eight years old.

The reason Li Guangming was so troubled was that the exchange tournament wasn't just a contest for honor; it was also the battlefield on which the next year's educational funding and cultivation resources would be allocated.

If East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School came in last or performed poorly, its share of resources would be cut the following year.

"Am I really going to lose face in front of those old fellows this year...?"

Bang!

The office door was flung open by a tremendous force.

Li Guangming jumped in fright. He was just about to lose his temper when he saw Wang Zhen rush in like a whirlwind.

The normally steady, stern Iron Yama now had bloodshot eyes, disheveled hair, and a crooked collar. His expression was less one of anger than... fervor.

Li Guangming knew that look all too well.

Half a month ago, Lin Tao, the Martial Dao instructor, had looked just as wild.

"Principal Li!"

Wang Zhen rushed up to the desk and planted both hands on it, his voice cracking and distorting with extreme excitement. "Something happened! Something huge!"

Li Guangming frowned. "Wang Zhen, you're a veteran teacher. What kind of behavior is this, rushing around like that? Has the sky fallen?"

"It's worse than the sky falling!"

Wang Zhen ignored Li Guangming's rebuke. He took a deep breath and, at a volume close to a roar, hurled the figures in Li Guangming's face. "Chen Fan! That student who skipped a grade! Half a month! Minor mastery in stance and fist techniques! Qi and blood... 10.3 calories!"

"What did you say?"

Li Guangming froze. The teacup in his hand fell to the floor with a clatter, splashing scalding tea everywhere.

"10.3 calories!" Wang Zhen repeated, a mad flame burning in his eyes. "Principal, you heard me right! He's only eight! Just eight years old!"

Li Guangming felt as though he'd been struck by lightning.

10.3 calories.

What did that figure mean?

It meant that although Chen Fan was only in fourth grade, the strength of his qi and blood had already reached the upper-middle level among the school's sixth graders!

And he'd taken only half a month to do it!

"This..." Li Guangming's throat went dry, and his mind went blank.

"Enough of that!"

Wang Zhen was so worked up that he even cut Li Guangming off.

He took a deep breath and, with some difficulty, managed to calm himself down.

"At this point, fourth-grade instruction no longer suits Chen Fan. Or rather... fourth-grade instruction can't keep up with his pace anymore!"

As Wang Zhen spoke, his whole face turned red.

"Skip a grade! He has to skip a grade!"

Wang Zhen's words left Li Guangming momentarily stunned.

"Skip another grade?"

Li Guangming knitted his brows tightly. Chen Fan had skipped from third grade to fourth only half a month ago. Was he supposed to send him to fifth grade now?

Suddenly, Wang Zhen caught sight of the document titled "Notice Regarding the Donghai City Martial Arts Primary School Exchange Tournament," and a thought stirred in his mind.

A moment later, Wang Zhen raised his head and spoke slowly.

"Principal, what do you think about sending Chen Fan to sixth grade?"

"Sixth grade?"

Li Guangming's voice abruptly shot up an octave. He stared hard at Wang Zhen, as if trying to determine whether the teacher he valued most had gone mad.

"Wang Zhen, do you know what you're saying? He's only eight! Skipping straight from fourth to sixth grade isn't just skipping a grade anymore. You're treating his future like a joke!"

Li Guangming walked around the desk and paced restlessly back and forth in the small office, the floor creaking beneath his feet. His tone was heavier than ever.

"Pulling up the seedlings to help them grow—don't you understand that principle?"

"His foundation is solid and his talent is great, but what about his temperament? Have you forgotten that file?"

"He's a child with autistic tendencies. If we suddenly push him into the teeth of the storm and make him face a group of students three or four years older than him, the pressure will crush him!"

Wang Zhen's face flushed red with excitement. He stepped forward and met the principal's gaze without yielding an inch, the fire in his eyes burning brighter than Li Guangming had ever seen it.

"Principal! Conventional methods only work on conventional geniuses! Is Chen Fan a conventional genius?"

"No! He's a monster!"

Wang Zhen's gaze swept over the glaring "Exchange Tournament Notice" on the desk, and his voice grew even more impassioned, like a battle horn sounding the charge.

"The exchange tournament is a little over a month away! How much qi and blood does our strongest sixth grader have? 15 calories! What about the other schools? I hear Third Elementary and Experimental Primary School both have promising talents close to 20 calories! What are we supposed to compete with?"

He held up one finger and said with absolute conviction, "Give me one month! No, give Chen Fan one month!"

"Let him train with the sixth-grade advanced class and enjoy the best resources our school has to offer."

"After a month, if he can't keep up or shows any adverse reactions, I, Wang Zhen, will personally take him back to fourth grade without another word! Can't we afford to take that risk?"

"Take a risk?"

Wang Zhen's words struck Li Guangming's heart like a heavy hammer.

He stopped in his tracks, his breathing growing heavy.

Yes, the risk...

But what about the reward?

An eight-year-old monster, growing at a terrifying pace for a month...

At the exchange tournament, an eight-year-old child standing before a group of eleven- and twelve-year-olds, throwing a punch...

Just imagining the scene made his blood boil!

A long silence fell over the office, broken only by the intermingled sound of their heavy breathing.

Finally, Li Guangming slammed his palm down on the desk. His eyes, usually filled with a gentle smile, now burned with determination.

"All right! We'll do as you say! I'll take that gamble!"

He snatched up the internal communicator on the desk, his manner brooking no argument.

"Notify Liu Haifeng, the teacher of Grade Six, Class One. Tomorrow, his class will have a new transfer student!"

After saying that, Li Guangming ended the call, only to find Wang Zhen still standing motionless in front of him, staring straight at him.

"Why are you still standing here? Aren't you going to teach your class?"

Li Guangming was somewhat puzzled.

A fawning smile suddenly appeared on Li Guangming's face.

"Well, Principal, how about... letting me team up with Teacher Liu?"

Li Guangming's expression immediately turned into a half-smile. "I seem to recall someone saying Grade Four Class One was putting him under so much pressure that he couldn't get away?"

"How is that the same? I have to be responsible for my student! Chen Fan is my student!"

"He's Teacher Liu's student now!"

"Who the fuck is Liu Haifeng?"

"Even so..."

The sound of arguing rang out in the office.

Time passed, and the lunch break bell rang.

The students of Grade Four Class One streamed toward the cafeteria. The entire class's atmosphere seemed a little strange because of the morning's test.

Everyone kept their distance, consciously or otherwise, from the small, thin figure walking at the very front, their gazes too complicated to put into words.

Chen Fan and Zhao Jie stood in the middle of the line.

Zhao Jie's mouth never stopped moving. He gestured wildly with excitement, as if he were the one who had achieved 10.3 calories of qi and blood.

"Boss, did you hear that? They're all talking about you! 10.3 calories!"

Chen Fan listened without expression, his thoughts already immersed in the qi and blood rushing ceaselessly through his body.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the front of the line, accompanied by the grating clatter of a food tray hitting the floor.

Several tall students, clearly from the upper grades, were shoving people out of their way and cutting straight to the front of the line.